Rotarian Sheila Webster is excited about the bulbs she is offering for sale. "We sold them last year and know that they are of excellent quality. They are the best," she said. But the benefits of the project stretch much further than Bowen Island gardens - they will reach Hluvukani, a village on the borders of the world famous Kruger National Park in South Africa. The Rotary Club of Bowen Island bulb sale will benefit Kunavelela, a project that literally means "to encourage hope." And Sheila has a personal connection to the project as her daughter Andrea Webster is looking back on a long standing affiliation with the non-profit organization led by Harry and Smilling Ubisi.
In an email interview, Andrea explained how she came to be involved. "I worked with Harry and Smilling for three years at a lodge where I was based doing wildlife research," she said. "On their invitation, I visited Hluvukani, watched a soccer game and met their families. The generosity of spirit I encountered in the people really touched me and I wanted to do something to help."
Andrea learned that, in 1997, Harry and Smilling had purchased a soccer ball on their way home from work and started playing on a bare patch of sun-baked earth.By the end of the day, teams of young boys had joined the game that ended only when the sun sank low on the horizon and the ball was flat. "Through regular informal soccer matches, Harry and Smilling became aware of how many children were living without parental supervision, relying on grandmothers, older siblings and other relatives to supply the basic needs of shelter, food and clothing," Andrea said. "Now, 14 years later, Harry and Smilling have established small groups of community members that offer basic home-based care to HIV/Aids and TB patients. Regular donations are handed out to orphans in need of clothes and blankets. A five-acre plot of land has been cleared and fenced for vegetable growing to supplement food provision for families in need. And a small chicken house has been built to help provide fresh eggs and needed protein to community members."
On her first visit to the village, Andrea was taken on a tour and saw schoolrooms with crumbling floors and broken windows, a dry dusty patch of earth that was the soccer field and a huge area of overgrown vegetation. She remembers Harry telling her: "This is going to be our vegetable garden so that the grandmothers and people who have no food can work for themselves to make their lives better."
In 2008, the brothers established the Kunavelela Community Project, a non-profit organization with the aim of encouraging hope and a community-based ethic within the village and Andrea is impressed how the project has raised sufficient funds over the years and has gone from strength to strength. And the soccer component has continued through donated equipment.
Andrea found Harry and Smilling's simple vision of wanting a better life for themselves and their fellow community members truly refreshing. "Since 2006, I have worked closely with Harry and Smilling to assist in realizing their vision through various means of sponsorship proposals, talks to create awareness, newsletters to keep people updated on progress, arranging donations and logistics of getting equipment and supplies," she said. "I also manage the project finances, send updates to our blog-master and fundraise on their behalf. I have engaged the skills of experts, fellow workers, family and friends to assist in any way they can."
Andrea continues to support the project because she believes that without addressing the fundamental needs of communities such as Hluvukani, the wild areas and animals of Africa she studies will cease to exist. "In working with the two brothers who show such perseverance, integrity and dedication, often in the face of real adversity, I have become enriched and humbled by my experiences and interactions with the community and can only attempt to give something back," she said.
And the bulb sale is part of it. "Our objective this year is to start construction of a day-care centre. The project has already purchased a plot of land that is centrally located within the village," Andrea explained. "Once established, it will allow youngsters who have found the responsibility of being head of a household thrust upon them, to continue their schooling while their younger siblings are taken care of. Our long-term goal is to establish a safe, clean place for young children to be fed and cared for without compromising the future of their older siblings." The day-care centre is connected to the community garden as the project aims to reserve some of the home-grown agricultural produce for the children.
"This facility will be the first of its kind in the village and by necessity will need to be completed in stages. The fundraising this year will allow the purchase of building materials to start construction and offer much needed economic opportunities for builders and trade masters in the village," Andrea said.
This is not the first year Bowen Islanders are invited to help out by buying bulbs. Last year, $5000 were raised locally. These funds, augmented with contributions from the Rotary Club of Burnaby and a grant from Rotary International, helped to build a windmill and tank stand with two 10,000L capacity water tanks that provides previously unavailable water for the garden all year round(to learn about the construction of the tank stand and installation of the windmill, go to http://bowenrotary.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/kunavelela-community-windmill-project-report-part-two/).
"The Kunavelela Community Project still has much to do," Andrea said. "With the assistance of donations such as those made through bulb sales, the lives of many are being transformed and a sense of self respect, pride in community and hope are being restored."
And Bowen Island gardens bloom. Sheila said that she planted a large quantity of Angelique tulips last year. "They are absolutely stunning. We also found out that Chionodoxa is deer proof. This year, we're offering Chionodoxa Alba in addition to the [Chionodoxa] Glory of the Snow," she said. For more information or to purchase bulbs, contact Sheila Webster at 604-947-0114 or at [email protected].
For more information on the Kunavelela Community project, visit www.kunavelela.wordpress.com.
